Aerocool Strike-X ST

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The longest case in our four-way comparison, Aerocool’s Strike-X ST is large enough to support up to nine 120 mm fans on its left side panel. Four external drives are supported up front, but the area under those bays that looks like it'd be a front-access backplane is nothing more than a molded-in vent.

Top Plane?

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While the front panel only appears to have a backplane, the top panel actually does have one. Designed for external connection to internal drives, separate doors guide 2.5” and 3.5” drives into position over its data and power connectors. Three fan control knobs are found nearby, along with dual USB 3.0, dual USB 2.0, headphone, and microphone connections.

Strike-X Filtration

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Though most of its front-panel capabilities are found up top, the one feature remaining is a slide-out intake fan filter. This washable filter protects a single 200 mm fan.

External Extras

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In addition to its support for a triple-fan internal radiator, Aerocool’s Strike-X ST supports up to three external liquid coolers lines via seven grommetted ingress/egress holes. A removable cover facilitates a second power supply, and the Strike-X ST even allows an extra fan to be installed behind the CPU socket.

Strike-X Cable Management

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Though it’s barely wide enough to support a 24-pin power cable, space behind the Strike-X ST’s motherboard tray is broad enough to contain the excess cable length of most power supplies. Grommets dress most of its cable access holes.

Inside The Strike-X ST

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Ten hard drive trays and three fan controllers highlight the cavernous space inside Aerocool’s Strike-X ST. A dozen grommets fill most of its holes, though rolled edges make these an aesthetic, rather than mandatory, feature.

Slowing Up To Fifteen Fans

Each of the Strike-X ST’s three fan controllers supports up to five three-pin fans. Note that four-pin PWM fans can also be controlled via voltage on three-pin headers.

Strike-X Intake Options

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Though it includes a single 200 mm fan within its face panel, the Strike-X ST’s metal is punched for dual 140 mm and dual 120 mm coolers. Those alternatives are not easy to access, however, since Aerocool did not make space above the main intake fan for the two-fan option. And while adequate space exists between the hard drive cage and face plate to install two fans there, the edge of the case prevents installation with the cage installed.

The best reason we can think of to use the previous-generation fan mounts is to install a second internal radiator, though the hard drive cage must be removed completely to do so. It’s unfortunate, then, that Aerocool uses rivets rather than screws to secure the cage.

A Room Upstairs

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The most-important feature of Aerocool’s Strike-X ST could be its top panel with support for three fans. Also able to hold up to two 200 mm fans or three 140 mm fans, the factory-equipped 200 mm fan is going to be removed for our upcoming radiator installation.

Azza Hurrican 2000

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A classy matte finish gives Azza’s Hurrican 2000 a far-more professional appearance than its previously-reviewed Fusion 4000, while a classic ATX layout gives it a far friendlier size. Small windows and a pair of LED fan on the side impart a somewhat more playful look to fully-integrated machines.

Forward-Facing Ports

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Top-panel ports are usually preferred for systems that slide under your desk, while front-panel ports are far easier to reach with a machine on your desk. Azza approaches both markets by facing its top-panel ports forward. Accessible eSATA eats up the space that would have been needed for a second USB 3.0 port, though two USB 2.0 ports are also present.

Front Hard Drive Access

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Evidence that the Hurrican 2000 is a professional case repurposed for gamers comes from its classy finish and added features. A front-panel door holds two 120 mm fans with filters, and hides six externally-accessible 3.5” internal drive trays.

None of the drive trays natively support 2.5” drives, so Azza adds two 2.5” adapters. Because the 2.5” adapters don’t line up with backplane connectors, only the top four trays have the backplane feature.

Hurrican Winds

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In addition to the expected front, rear, and top fans, both side panels of the Hurrican 2000 are actively cooled. The right side gets a single 120 mm exhaust fan designed specifically to draw heat away from the back of the CPU socket.

Two large grommets protect the lines of a single external liquid cooler, while a smaller third grommet allows cable pass-through to the I/O panel for the Hurrican 2000’s single USB 3.0 connector.

Cramped Cables

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With little space behind its motherboard tray, the Hurrican 2000 relies on an extended side panel to make room for cable stowage. The plate itself also has very few cable access holes, though we were able to place a test system neatly inside.

Quasi Fan-Control

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We don’t usually complain when a manufacturer copies the best feature of a competitor, but the Hurrican 2000’s fan control doesn't replicate the best implementations we've seen. Similar to a few other vendors, controllers soldered directly to power wires switch only the two top fans. Installation of replacement fans requires these controllers to be removed. That also affects the aftermarket fans we'll be adding for our liquid-cooling solution.

Hurrican 2000 Dust Control

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Dust filters on the Hurrican 2000’s power supply mount and optional bottom intake fan can be slid out from the side, allowing for easy cleaning without the need to tip the case. Exhaust fans get clean air from intakes, leaving only the side fans unprotected.

Eye Of The Hurrican

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With seven expansion slots and support for up to 13.6” –wide motherboards, the Hurrican 2000 looks almost tiny compared to other cases that accommodate 360 mm radiators. On the other hand, it’s still big enough to hold an Extended ATX motherboard and every graphics card currently in our lab.

Added And Subtracted Features

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Azza’s 3.5” backplane trays don’t support 2.5” SSDs, so Azza adds adapter trays. Those adapter trays don’t align 2.5” drives with backplane connectors though, so Azza omits the connectors entirely. As a result, only four of the trays are pluggable from outside, only two of the trays support 2.5” drives, and these features exclude each other.

Under The Big Top

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The Hurrican 2000 gets monster-sized exhaust from a pair of 230 mm top-mounted fans. That’s the same space we’ll use for our triple 120 mm-fan radiator in the case’s upcoming performance evaluation.

Cooler Master Cosmos II

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Rather than simply apply a nicer-looking finish, Cooler Master clads its Cosmos II in a more elegant material. Black, anodized, brushed aluminum is used for the exterior portion of its multi-layer side panels.

Tray-Free Backplane

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A thick plastic cover slides down to reveal three 5.25” external drive bays and two 3.5” hard drive backplanes. They support 1”-tall drives without need of a tray, ejecting the drive when the cover is opened. This could be a big benefit to anyone who frequently removes or swaps high-capacity drives.

Cosmos II Fan Controls

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A top-panel cover slides back to reveal four three-speed fan controls, lighting controls, power, and reset buttons. Forward-facing ports beneath those controls are only partially concealed by the closed cover, leaving extra room for large cable ends.

Breaking Away

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Designed to support up to ten-slot motherboards, an eleventh slot bracket provides extra space for the breakout plates supplied with some motherboards. The Cosmos II rear panel also has three large, grometted holes for external liquid coolers and cable pass-through.

Swinging Panels

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Side panels swing forward on the Cosmos II for easy access to internal components. Both can be slid off of their hinges with equal ease, and both have heavily-formed plastic interiors. Only the right panel has the ability to hold extra fans, though. Two 120 mm fans are supported there.

Inside The Cosmos II

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Cooler Master equips the Cosmos II with three hard drive cages, in addition to the front-access two-drive backplane. Cooler Master doesn’t consider its internally-mounted drive cage fans to be side fans, though they do draw air through slots in the side panel.

A large support plate access hole eases cooler installation on most motherboards.

SSD Support

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While the front-access backplane supports 3.5” drives exclusively, all eleven internal trays have mounts for both 3.5” and 2.5” drives. Pins on silicon dampeners help isolate vibration from 3.5” mechanical drives, but 2.5” drives are screwed directly to the tray.

Cooling Versus Storage

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All of the cases we're featuring today support at least one triple-fan radiator, but the Cosmos II also supports a double-fan radiator in place of its lower drive cages. Brackets for the alternative configuration are even included in Cooler Master’s installation kit.

Slide-Out Power

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A rear-mounted extended bracket eases power supply installation without requiring drive cages to be removed. The Cosmos II also includes a slide-out power supply dust filter, and users of extra-long PSUs can still remove remove the drive cages if they need to.

When 2.5 Makes Three

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The Cosmos II’s top panel vent appears too small to hold a three-fan radiator, partly because it is. Cooler Master extends space for a third fan beyond the front edge of the vent, and makes the space beneath the solid portion 1.5” thick to allow air to flow around this obstruction.

NZXT Switch 810

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White is a refreshing color in a world of black cases, and NZXT even makes sure you aren't left with mismatched colors by included a white optical drive cover in the Switch 810’s top drive bay.

Double-Radiator Support

Viewable from this angle through the side panel, the top panel supports our intended three-fan radiator.

Easier Access

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Push latches secure key portions of the NZXT Switch 810’s front and top panels, along with its two bottom dust filters. A single 140 mm fan fills one of its two front mounts, its filter attached to the push-latched portion of the front panel.

Behind The Switch 810

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Nine expansion slots support motherboards up to XL-ATX, though standoffs exist only for boards up to Extended ATX. XL-ATX users might also be confounded by the lack of a tenth slot to hold their fourth double-slot graphics card.

A quartet of grommets protect the lines of external liquid coolers, and the single 140 mm rear exhaust fan slides up and down to make room for various radiator configurations.

Horizontal Blinds

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The NZXT Switch 810 gives you the ability to open and close top-panel vents for the sake of appearance. NZXT also mentions that the closed panel reduces noise, though closed-panel ventilation is only completely adequate for a single fan.

Switch 810 Cable Management

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Ten large, rectangular grommets dress cable access holes of the NZXT Switch 810, which barely has enough room for a 24-pin power cable. A great amount of builder’s effort will pay off in the form of a clean-looking installation.

A pair of three-bay drive cages are also accessed from the right side. All six trays support both 2.5” and 3.5” drives.

Division Of Power

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The Switch 810 doesn’t have its own fan controller, but it does have a large fan power splitter. A single four-pin power supply input feeds seven fan headers, with voltage control for the fan speed left to user-added modifications (such as splicing a rheostat into a four-pin extension cable).

Each drive cage supports an extra (internal) fan for push-pull ventilation. Each internal fan bracket can be rotated up to 15° to aid graphics card cooling, but only one fan is included.

Additional Configurability

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The Switch 810’s backplane beats at least two of its competitors by supporting both 3.5” and 2.5” drives, thanks to a drive tray with two sets of holes. This standard 5.25” bay adapter can also be exchanged for a single optical drive or other 5.25” bay device.

Side panels of the top external bay are also removable to assist in top-panel radiator installation.

Now that most of the features for our liquid-cooling cases have been covered, we’re ready to move on to our performance evaluation. Please watch for it!